Public addresses the court on the issue of construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP

On June, 11, 2013 the District administrative court of Kyiv scheduled the first court hearing in a case initiated by EPL against the Ministry of energy and coal industry of Ukraine alleging the illegality of the preparation of the draft law  «On placement, projecting and construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP». This law was adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on 6 September 2012 and as a result the Enegroatom company and the defendant started the process of preparation of the building project for blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP.
Plaintiff points out the numerous violations and shortcomings of the process of development and preparation of the draft law before its approval by the parliament that influenced the wording of the law. The most important issue that at the stage of the feasibility study the defendant have not studied the possibility of construction of blocks 3 and 4 on the top of existing constructions of NPP which were erected 20 years ago and have been not subject to conservation measures. Although  art.1 of the Law «On placement, projecting and construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP» stated:  «blocks 3 and 4 are to be placed at the industrial site of KhNPP”, such conclusion is premature and ungrounded and could result in unpredictable consequences in the future. This contradicts the position of the State Inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine which states that materials of feasibility study failed to answer the question on possibility of use of the existing constructions at KhNPP and thus this question if left open.
Besides the shortcomings of the feasibility study which was directed to the parliament together with the law draft by the defendant later failed to ensure the carry out of state ecological expertise of the feasibility study of construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP as required by law. The defendant failed to carry out the consultative referendum in settlements and obtaining the approval from the local state bodies and bodies of local self-government in observation area of KnNPP. Only in 14 settlements out of 200 the public hearings were held. Few bodies of local self-government have not agreed to the new construction and the majority did not have the possibility to express their position. Nevertheless the position of local population and local authorities which will be affected by the operation of new blocks at KhNPP was ignored by the defendant and the text of the law is the evidence of it.
The plaintiff asks the court to declare such actions of the defendant illegal and demand the preparation of the amendments to the law «On placement, projecting and construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP» from the On placement, projecting and construction of blocks 3 and 4 at KhNPP defendant. The defendant was absent at the hearing, this the court scheduled anther date for the hearing.
The text of the suit is available here:
For more detailed information please ask the representative of EPL in this case – Olya Melen-Zabramna, head of the legal unit
Email: office@epl.org.ua;
o.melen-zabramna@epl.org.ua
tel.: ( 032) 225-76-82.